A former F1 driver has claimed that Lewis Hamilton could retire from the sport if Ferrari’s form does not improve quickly.

Hamilton’s fairytale switch to Ferrari has failed to materialise into a fight for a record-breaking eighth world title, and the seven-time world champion currently languishes 23 points behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ standings.

The 40-year-old’s frustrating season once again took a severe turn at the Spanish Grand Prix, where Hamilton was overtaken by the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and declared his own performance as ‘terrible’.

Speaking to Plejmo, former F1 driver and active FIA steward Derek Warwick claimed that if Ferrari’s car does not improve for Hamilton he could leave the sport entirely.

“I think if it carries on the way it is at the minute, I suspect he’s already thinking of stopping,” he said.

“I think we all saw him moving to Ferrari as a great opportunity to win his eighth world title.

“The car is not to his liking at the minute. Most critics will say he’s a seven-times world champion, 105 grand prix wins, surely you adapt to the car you’ve got, because Charles has.”

Leclerc bests Hamilton at Ferrari so far in 2025

Hamilton encountered a similar problem in his final season at Mercedes, where he was regularly outpaced by his younger team-mate George Russell who out-qualified the champion on 19 occasions in 2024.

Similarly at Ferrari, Hamilton’s main weakness appears to be his qualifying speed in relation to Leclerc, but demonstrated in Barcelona that he is also lacking race pace after his team-mate managed to achieve another podium finish.

Charles Leclerc has achieved three podium finishes in 2025
“For some reason he can’t get used to it,” Warwick continued.

“I think people underestimate, including Lewis, maybe how difficult it is to join a new team.

“How to get used to their systems, their debriefs, getting them to understand what you want and vice versa.”

In addition to Hamilton’s temperamental relationship with the SF-25, the champion has also been involved in several tense exchanges with his race engineer Riccardo Adami, only fuelling the narrative that he is struggling to embed himself at Ferrari.